4 wetlands get global recognition

In 2007, the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai became the first UAE wetland to be named by Ramsar as a site of international importance. Three years later, Wadi Wurayah National Park in Fujairah, was added by Ramsar to its list. Al Wathba Wetland Reserve in Abu Dhabi and the Mangrove and Alhafeya Protected Area in Khor Kalba, Sharjah, were added to the list this year.

The Ramsar Convention is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem. The treaty was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and the Convention’s member countries cover all geographic regions of the planet. The Convention on Wetlands came into force for the UAE on December 29, 2007. The UAE’s four sites designated as a Wetland of International Importance, have a surface area of 15,014 hectares.

Following is the Annotated Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance in the UAE, last updated by Ramsar in April.

Al Wathba Wetland 
Reserve, Abu Dhabi

It is a complex of natural and human-made surface water bodies located approximately 40km southeast of Abu Dhabi city. Formerly a salt flat (‘sabkha’ in Arabic) that used to flood only during winter rainfall, it is now maintained by a regular supply of tertiary treated freshwater from a nearby sewage treatment plant. This regulation of the water level results in hypersaline, brackish and freshwater habitat of varying depths, providing an ideal site for many wetland dependent species within a hyper-arid biogeographic region. The area was declared as a reserve after the first successful breeding of the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) there in 1998, marking the first known successful breeding of this species in the Arabian Peninsula since 1922.

Access to the general public is currently limited to educational tours and bird watching groups; however, a future visitor centre is being planned to encourage tourism.

Mangrove and Alhafeya Protected Area, Khor Kalba

Located in the far east of the country near the border with Oman, the site comprises coastal subtidal, intertidal (sand beach, mangroves, mud and tidal channels), supratidal sand, salt marsh and saline flats, as well as encompassing a narrow alluvial plain dominated by Acacia woodland. The Avicennia marina mangrove trees found in Kalba are the tallest and comprise the most extensive mature woodland in the biogeographic region; they provide breeding, nursery and feeding grounds for several fish and invertebrate species, besides protecting the coastline from storm damage and erosion while trapping sediments washed off the land. The critically endangered Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and endangered Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) can be observed near the mouth of the mangrove’s inlet.

Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary, Dubai

Located at the end of the 14 km-long Dubai creek within the northern part of the Emirate of Dubai. A rare site in the arid Gulf region, this natural coastal wetland consists of low-lying saline flats, lagoon, intertidal mud and sand flats and mangrove swamps that serve as an important habitat for more than 450 species of fauna and 47 species of flora. During winter, it regularly supports more than 20,000 waterbirds belonging to 67 species and acts as a critical staging ground for migratory waterbirds along the East African-West Asian Flyway. A number of threatened species such as the Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) and Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga) are seen in the area; more than 3,000 Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus ruber) have been counted, and more than 1 per cent of the regional population of Broad-billed Sandpipers (Limicola falcinellus) migrate through in autumn and spring. Located in the heart of Dubai city, the site receives an average of 10,000 visitors annually.

Wadi Wurayah National Park, Fujairah

The area’s geology has created a unique hydrogeological system that allows run-off water to emerge between impermeable and permeable rock creating fresh water streams, pools and waterfalls, all of which are uncommon in an arid region. The diversity of fresh water habitats provide important spawning ground for fish such as Garra barreimiae (Cyprinidae) which is threatened and endemic to the Arabian Peninsula, including seven newly discovered insect species of which four (Order: Ephemeroptera) have water dependent larval stages. The site supports 11 threatened species of mammals, such as the Arabian Tahr (Hemitrgus jayakari). So far, 73 species of birds such as the endangered Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) have been recorded.